Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Assistance Fund

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Funding Direct Assistance to Victims of Crimes

Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) is the only federal grant program supporting direct assistance services to victims and survivors of all types of crimes. The primary purpose of the VOCA grant program is to extend and enhance services to crime victims and crime survivors. If you are interested in receiving information about VOCA funding opportunities for your victim services program, please contact Amanda VanTil at Amanda.L.VanTil@doj.oregon.gov and request to be added to the listserv.

VOCA funds are allocated annually to the Oregon Department of Justice Crime Victim and Survivor Services Division and are sub-granted to victim service organizations throughout the state. (PDF)»

VOCA Federal Rules and State Guidelines

State Guidance:

Federal Rules and Guidance:

VOCA Services

VOCA federal guidelines state that services are defined as those that:

  • respond to the emotional and physical needs of crime victims.
  • assist primary and secondary victims to stabilize their lives after a victimization.
  • assist victims and survivors to understand and participate in the criminal justice system.
  • provide victims and survivors with a measure of safety and security such as boarding-up broken windows and replacing or repairing locks.

VOCA Requirements

An agency must meet all of the following federal requirements to receive VOCA funds:

  • Demonstrate a record of effective and direct services to crime victims
  • Meet program match requirement
  • Utilize volunteers to provide or support direct services
  • Promote coordinated public and private efforts to assist victims and survivors
  • Assist victims seeking crime victim compensation benefits
  • Provide services to crime victims, at no charge, through the VOCA funded project
  • Maintain confidentiality
  • Provide services to victims and survivors of federal crime on the same basis as victims of state crime
  • Maintain required civil rights information
  • Meet the terms of the certified assurances, special conditions and other federal rules regulating grants

OVC PMT Information

Subgrantees are required to use the OVC PMT system » to submit VOCA statistical information quarterly.

Resources for completion of Subgrantee Data Report in OVC PMT:

History of VOCA: Supporting Crime Victims Since 1984

The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 12, 1984. It serves as the central source of federal financial support for direct services to crime victims.

VOCA is administered at the federal level through the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime, which annually awards a grant to each state, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories. Those state agencies, in turn, subgrant to organizations providing direct services to crime victims.

VOCA Funding

The money for these grants comes from the Crime Victims Fund, a special fund into which fines, penalty assessments, bond forfeitures collected from convicted federal offenders and certain other collections are deposited. Taxpayers do not fund VOCA grants.

Each state has a designated VOCA assistance agency to administer VOCA grants. While minimal federal requirements must be met, each state is given great discretion in awarding specific subgrants.

VOCA in Oregon

In Oregon, the Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) is the designated agency for the administration of VOCA funds. The Crime Victim and Survivor Services Division (CVSSD) of the Oregon DOJ has specific program responsibility for VOCA. The newly formed Competitive and Non-Competitive Advisory Committees serve as a review body to the Oregon DOJ and CVSSD.

Congress took an unprecedented step forward in meeting the critical needs of our nation’s crime victims by increasing the VOCA cap for FY 2015. As part of the 2015 appropriations bill, Congress more than tripled the annual amount of non-taxpayer money released from the Crime Victims fund by raising the annual cap.

With this unexpected increase to Oregon’s VOCA allocation, CVSSD has the opportunity to make significant improvements in victim and survivor assistance services as well as the responsibility to do so in an accountable and transparent manner.

Additional VOCA Resources